The European Commission takes action against Bulgaria
The European Commission has officially confirmed its intention to open an excessive deficit procedure against Bulgaria. The news was announced by the European Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, following a meeting of finance ministers in Luxembourg.
"The European Commission has assessed the implementation of the deficit requirement and found that Bulgaria is not complying with it," stated Dombrovskis.
Why is this procedure necessary?
The procedure is triggered when a member state's deficit exceeds 3% of GDP or its public debt exceeds the 60% threshold. The forecasts for our country indicate:
- EC forecast: 4.1% deficit.
- Bulgarian Ministry of Finance forecast: up to 7% deficit.
What are the steps to address the deficit?
Minister of Finance Galab Donev has already held initial discussions with the EC. Key corrective measures include:
- Improving tax revenue collection.
- Active measures against the shadow economy.
- Administrative reforms: reducing staff numbers and accelerating the digitalization of services.
Bulgaria is the only country for which the EC is proposing the opening of a new procedure in this package, which places the state budget under strict monitoring and necessitates disciplined fiscal policies.